Stocking suggestions

IStocking suggestions. I have 6 whitecloud minnow babies in a 20 gallon aquarium temp is lowest 74f. What other fish and how many would you recommend? I also have a 150 gallon and 30 and 75 gallon aquarium i will be setting up in the summer when i refernish my basement any freshwater stocking ideas for them to. Thanks

I would think small schooling barbs would go well with them. Your water at 74 might be a few degrees above comfort zone. I would lower to the higher 60's. Your other tanks have options abound, but keep a couple of simple rules in mind. Stock to the adult size of fish, and dont put fish in an uncycled system

What type and how many barbs would you suggest?

I was suggesting with a semi educated guess. I am a big tank, big cichlids keeper, always have been. My fish would eat all those fish,lol You should be able to get quality info and solid suggestions with a simple Google search

Eva44 wrote:What type and how many barbs would you suggest?

What did you end up deciding on in the end?

I got 6 whiteclouds 4 sun platys and 6 emerald green cory catfish. My aquarium is a bit cloudy ben two weeks. Would you recommend 20percent water change? I dont want to touch filter system yet as tank is farely new.

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Eva44 wrote:I got 6 whiteclouds 4 sun platys and 6 emerald green cory catfish. My aquarium is a bit cloudy ben two weeks. Would you recommend 20percent water change? I dont want to touch filter system yet as tank is farely new.

I would certain change the water. Frequent water changes are always good, as long as they are temperature matched and conditioned (depending on your water). Forgive me if I missed it, but did you cycle the tank prior?

Yes i did. The moss balls changed the tank water last time i added more. Noticed the next day tank was cloudier. I will do a water change today. I usually do 20-30 percent once a week. I will eventually move them to a bigger tank as the emerald green corys can get to 3 inches long each. There very interesting to watch they dont hide and always on the move.

Sometimes you can have a bit of a bacterial bloom occur in fairly newly cycled tanks, so it could be that.

Generally best to just keeping up the water changes.

Any plans to add a substrate to the tank?

No i dont think i will add substrate just more moss balls and few more plants. I will vacuum bottom once week. Its a internal 40 gallon filter on tank.

There are a few natural beach smooth stones in there. Cant add anymore weight as the stand is maxed out. Looking for a stand for my 30 gallon to eventually transfer them to.

A few suggestions -

Adding a couple of moss balls isn't going to "cycle" a tank adequately. The cycle will occur when there are ammonia producing life (animals) in the tank. Plants won't do much to help this - they will absorb nitrates which doesn't help with the initial cycle.

Adding substrate will aid in cycling as your bacteria will live on rough surfaces. As far as adding too much weight, usually 1 pound of substrate per gallon is more than enough. This will also displace water by volume. Water weight is about 10 pounds per gallon, so if 20 pounds of substrate displaces 2 gallons of water, you end up equal.
Also, corys will much prefer to have substrate to scavenge for food.

The platies and corys will be fine with the white clouds. The corys will be fine with most fish as they will stay near the bottom and have protective spines that will keep larger fish at bay.

The water should clear up after a few days as the tank cycles. Too many water changes (IMO) won't allow for beneficial bacteria to build up to drive your cycle.

Thankyou for the good advice. I did a 30 percent water change for the first time since setting up the tank a month ago. The white clouds were in there 3 weeks before i added the other fish. The tank is no longer cloudy and clear.

Also keep in mind, if/when you add substrate and have cories, be sure to select a type that is smooth and does not have sharp edges (as they can damage their sensitive barbels).

I sold my fish but only have 5 whitecloud minnows in the 29 gallon. I tested the water. Everything was perfect very clean but hard water which they did not tolerate except the whiteclouds. Would one fancy goldfish be a good choice. I will change internal filter to double sponge filter weekly 20-30percent water change. Im running out of ideas for tank size and cool water fish that can tolerate high ph. Any thoughts or other suggestions? Not really a fan of just schooling